Sex Alfred Kinsey 12 16 15 8 13 PM Prominent student of sex Antimologist studied reproductive behavior of wasps Research project o Interviewing thousands of people for several hours Wrote bestselling book in 1948 o Sexual behavior in the human male o People masturbate o People have sex before getting married o People are homosexual William masters and Virginia Johnson Write book called human sexual response Biological processes of what happens when people have sex Think about sex in terms of Religion o Adam and eve fruit of knowledge discovering sex o Scarlett letter Branded by letter A committed sin from adultery o Stoning adulterers in Afghanistan If sex is natural why do we need instructions rules Self help section in bookstores Rules for dating Is marriage about love religion or law Gay marriage When we think about marriage we think of o Falling in love finding the one discovering the right person o Ceremonies Religion having marriage sanctified by religious service Bible views marriage in particular way Not just about love but also about being right with god Marriage license legal stance o Doesn t matter about religious ceremony o Official it gets filed o Married in eyes of IRS o Lowered taxes if you are married o Hundreds of married legal rights that people have End of life decisions Rules Who you can marry o Relatives incest Same sex marriage laws Their ages o Very young girls to be married to men much older Afghanistan o Age of consent vary from country to country state to state Numbers how many people you can marry o Polyamourous couples multiple wives or husbands Rules change over time they are evolving Society continually changes Sexting Norm What sociologists call a rule Missionary o A form of distributing child porn o Should people caught sexting be registered as sex offenders o Medieval theologians argue correct position for intercourse More likely to cause conception gravity Less animalistic Less lustful Prostitution Nudists Sex and violence o Tightly regulated don t want trouble Person most likely to kill you is person you are having sex with or person who wants to have sex with you Sex leads to violence Rape Legitimacy Babies out of wedlock Within bounds of marriage reduces conflict and increases legitimacy Inheritance Burusera Selling used underwear in Japan Legal for a while Sexual fetishes in Japan o Maid o Schoolgirls Footbinding o Now banned in china o Had erotic meaning Is sex about medicine Sex is patterned Sex is embedded in society o Rules Sex overview perspectives on sex o biology o social Invented disease erectile dysfunction o People with psychological problems took pills which gave them erections so started selling them for erectile dysfunction norms and sex patterns in sexual behavior the bottom line sociologists study social effects look for patterns Sexual Modesty Social Meanings and the Nudist Camp Modesty and Meanings o Sexual modesty an institutionalized pattern of social interaction o Acts of immodesty Verbal communications Non verbal communications A display of body or bodily functions Other forms or erotic overture Act may be perceived as communicating sexual availability Act may be perceived as a projection of bad breeding May be classified by ones active performance of an act or because of ones passiveness or failure to manage effectively an impression of restraint A girl who allows herself to be grabbed A girl who does the grabbing o Sexual modesty maintenance of social control over latent sexual interests o Social nudists Defined as deviants by their disregard for body covering Ideology of the nudist camp Nudism and sexuality are unrelated There is nothing shameful about exposing the body The abandonment of clothes can lead to a feeling of freedom and natural pleasure Nude activities leads to a feeling of physical mental and spiritual well being Organizational precautions Don t allow unmarried people or only allow a small number of single people The single people get charged higher rates of membership not very effective Over abundance of single men is threatening of the definition of nudism Camp owner must have certification letters 3 of recommendation Limits in trial visits to the camp how long they Norms regarding interpersonal behavior can be clothed No staring below all look up to the heavens and never look looking at immodesty is controlled because external constraints prohibit staring no sex talk body contact is taboo cant dance either no alcohol rules regarding photography sensitive matter blame misuse of cameras on single men unnatural attempts at covering any area of the body are ridiculed communal toilets o conclusions regarding modesty idea that nothing shameful about the body covering the body through the use of clothes is not a necessary condition for a pattern of modesty to exist nor is it required for tension management and social control of latent sexual interests except for clothing immodesty all other forms of modesty are maintained in the nudist camp when deviance from the institutionalized patterns of modesty is limited and the definition of the situation is changed the typically expected consequence of such a breakdown does not occur Suicide 12 16 15 8 13 PM we tend to think of suicide as a psychological issue but it is a social phenomenon can be considered honorable o Japan o Congressional medal of honor Highest award you can receive Sacrifice yourself for your unit It can be a group activity o Jonestown Cult congregation peoples temple Convinced govt was after them Distributed poison kool aid to group o Heavens gate Southern cali smaller group Received messages from mother ship that said if they killed themselves their souls would go to the mother ship Industrial revolution changed ways people live Statistics The larger a country is the better off it is Census Statists studying the relative power of different states Emile Durkheim Key figure in sociology Writes book called suicide Looked at different statistics in dif European countries Deaths from suicide Suicide rate per million people in France vs Denmark Looked at religion related to suicide Statistics Suicide rates go up as you age Males have higher rates of suicide White males followed by black males white females then black Social integration social solidarity females Durkheim o Society shares norms an understanding as how the world works o Curvilinear relationship Anomic suicide o Men alone isolated o Not socially engaged Altruistic suicide o Sacrifice